|'''Overview''' || Students will learn about rpm and dnf/yum package tooling and then actually create their own package from code, upload it to a public package repository and finally have a classmate install their compiled package. This can be advertised to students as being able to distribute their own linux-based application to the world.

+

|'''Overview''' || Students will learn about rpm and dnf/yum package tooling and then actually create their own RPM package from code. This can be advertised to students as being able to distribute their own linux-based application to the world.

Log your shell commands, answers to questions, and commentary in a text file, wiki, or blog. You will be constructing and troubleshooting numerous linux shell command's and their outputs. Your assignment is to document these commands and the process you went through in an organized fashion. You might use bullet points or a new set of commands on each line. Make sure it is easily consumable by a human (your instructor), as well as yourself 10 years from now.

Log your shell commands, answers to questions, and commentary in a text file, wiki, or blog. You will be constructing and troubleshooting numerous linux shell command's and their outputs. Your assignment is to document these commands and the process you went through in an organized fashion. You might use bullet points or a new set of commands on each line. Make sure it is easily consumable by a human (your instructor), as well as yourself 10 years from now.

−

The data that is the output of the commands is not as interesting as a summary or comment of their output or on what the command has done - ex: failed, succeeded, why, what it did, what it changed, etc. Write these in complete sentences. Commentary is especially important if you run into problems. When this occurs, state the problem and how you intend to solve it. At the end, you should have a text document with all of the commands, right and wrong, that you went through to get this activity completed. It should read as a timeline of what you did and what your thoughts were, to get the assignment complete. After this is complete, you will summarize the most useful commands into a sort of cheatsheet - this can come in useful for years to come.

+

The data that is the output of the commands is not as interesting as key lines or a summary/comment of their output or on what the command has done - ex: failed, succeeded, why, what it did, what it changed, etc. Write these in complete sentences. Commentary is especially important if you run into problems. When this occurs, state the problem and how you intend to solve it. At the end, you should have a text document with all of the commands, right and wrong, that you went through to get this activity completed. It should read as a timeline of what you did and what your thoughts were, to get the assignment complete. After this is complete, you will summarize the most useful commands into a sort of cheat sheet - this can come in useful for years to come.

+

+

See some samples and tools for a working log. Whatever method you use, make your written log human readable, make it a story if you wish. When you come back to this years from now, needing to remind yourself how to package some newly minted code, you want a summary/cheat sheet and you want to be able to understand the context and follow your thoughts of why you tried certain things. You don't want to be parsing through lines and lines of shell input and output.

* ''history'' command - Use this command to see what commands you have typed in the past.

+

* ''script'' command - You may alternately want to use the ''script'' command, which records all commands and their output to a file. The downside is that you have to remember to run this command before you wanted that output.

+

* Multiple terminal windows/tabs - It is advised that you utilize multiple terminal (shell) windows at the same time. When you get sidetracked on installing a dependency, use a separate window for that. This keeps your shell history organized and parsable afterwards.

+

* Up your terminals buffer limit - You might also consider upping your terminal windows buffer for the number of lines it holds, to somewhere in the tens of thousands - just in case you decide you want to come back to something you learned a while back, or in case a command spits out thousands of lines of results - which can happen. Some terminal applications can record commands and output to text files.

−

The ''history'' command is your friend. Use it to see what commands you have typed in the past. It is advised that you utilize multiple terminal (shell) windows at the same time. When you get sidetracked on installing a dependency, use a separate window for that. This keeps your shell history organized and parsable afterwards. You might also consider upping your terminal windows buffer for the number of lines it holds, to somewhere in the tens of thousands - just in case you decide you want to come back to something you learned a while back, or in case a command spits out thousands of lines of results - which can happen. Some terminal applications can record commands and output to text files. Either way, make your written log human readable, make it a story if you wish. When you come back to this years from now, needing to remind yourself how to package some newly minted code, you want a summary/cheatsheet and you want to be able to understand the context and follow your thoughts of why you tried certain things. You don't want to be parsing through lines and lines of shell input and output.

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#* Document authored by Guru Labs, L.C. released under the CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0 license

#* Document authored by Guru Labs, L.C. released under the CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0 license

# [http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-rpm1/ Packaging the `wget` command] - Review this example in its entirety

# [http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-rpm1/ Packaging the `wget` command] - Review this example in its entirety

−

#* This will take some time to read through, but dont worry about details, as we will step through it again below.

+

#* This will take some time to read, but don't worry about details, as we will step through it again below.

−

#* If you were to try to follow along in the shell, there may be some hickups with ''wget''.

+

#* If you were to try to follow along in the shell, there may be some difficulties with ''wget''.

−

#* Instead, save it for Part 3; You will use this readings structure to RPM'ize the ''htop'' project.

+

#* Instead, save it for Part 3 below; You will use this readings structure to turn the ''htop'' code into an RPM.

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* What does the rpmbuild command do?

* What does the rpmbuild command do?

* Quickly summarize the directory structure when making your own RPM - you will stick this into your cheat sheet later, so make it short.

* Quickly summarize the directory structure when making your own RPM - you will stick this into your cheat sheet later, so make it short.

−

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Instructions:

Instructions:

−

* Follow along with these two resources:

+

* Required: Follow along with these resources:

−

** http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-rpm1/ - With all of the below instructions, you will be following this example, except replace it with ''htop''

+

** PRIMARY - http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-rpm1/ - With all of the below instructions, you will be following this example, except replace it with ''htop''

−

** https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_create_a_GNU_Hello_RPM_package - This second resource also steps through packaging. It takes some shortcuts, and therefore you miss out on some details, but it also simplifies the entire process. You should use it to follow along with the above example.

+

** Secondary: https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/How_to_create_a_GNU_Hello_RPM_package - This second resource also steps through packaging. It takes some shortcuts, and therefore you miss out on some details, but it also simplifies the entire process. You should use it to follow along with the above example.

* Build ''htop'' manually

* Build ''htop'' manually

** Compile the ''htop'' project to test that the code can be turned into binary form in your environment.

** Compile the ''htop'' project to test that the code can be turned into binary form in your environment.

** Before you can create an RPM, code '''must''' compile manually.

** Before you can create an RPM, code '''must''' compile manually.

−

** See [[#Dependency_Issues]] in the appendix below for detailed configure and make issues that you might run into.

+

** See [[#Dependency_Issues|Dependency Issues]] in the appendix below for detailed configure and make issues that you might run into.

** Once you have ./configure, make, and make install compiling ''htop'', you can move on to building an RPM for it

** Once you have ./configure, make, and make install compiling ''htop'', you can move on to building an RPM for it

** (Optional) You might try to ''dnf install'' the RPM on a separate computer or shell to see that it really works

+

*** This is not required for this activity

−

=== Deliverables: ===

+

+

+

=== Deliverable's: ===

One single text document can hold all of what needs to be handed in below. Put them in the following order, first to last, so that the instructor can find them easily.

One single text document can hold all of what needs to be handed in below. Put them in the following order, first to last, so that the instructor can find them easily.

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|-

|-

| '''Installs and inspects RPMs with dnf/yum'''

| '''Installs and inspects RPMs with dnf/yum'''

−

|

+

| Did not attempt commands

−

|

+

| Attempted to install RPM, but was unsuccessful

−

|

+

| Installed RPM and showed that it is installed

−

|

+

| Installed RPM, showed that it is installed, and ran the installed binary

|-

|-

−

| '''Compiles code into binary RPM'''

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| '''Creates a compliant .spec file'''

−

|

+

| Did not attempt to create file

−

|

+

| Creates file, but minimally fills out metadata

−

|

+

| Creates file, fills out metadata

−

|

+

| Creates file, fills out metadata, and adds comments

|-

|-

−

| '''Uploads RPM to COPR or other online repo'''

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| '''Builds an RPM and assures that it works'''

−

|

+

| Did not attempt to build RPM

−

|

+

| Attempted to build RPM, but was unsuccessful

−

|

+

| Built RPM

−

|

+

| Built RPM and assured that it works with rpmlint, mock and/or dnf install

|-

|-

−

| '''Installs colleagues RPM from COPR'''

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| '''Creates a working log and cheat sheet of commands'''

−

|

+

| Did not create a working log

−

|

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| Created a minimal working log that shows only commands and their output - no user comments

−

|

+

| Created working log that explains commands and summarizes with a cheat sheet

−

|

+

| Created working log that contains an easy to follow narrative of commands and reasons why they were run; Summarizes with a cheat sheet that is very easy to reference and understand

|}

|}

+

+

=== Comments: ===

=== Comments: ===

What should the instructor know before using this activity?

What should the instructor know before using this activity?

−

Students should know how to compile Linux software code before doing this activity.

+

* Students should know how to compile Linux software code before doing this activity.

−

* There exists an activity which covers this: [[Introduction_to_building_open_source_software]]

+

** There exists an activity which covers this: [[Introduction_to_building_open_source_software]]

−

* Particularly, students should have experience using the ''configure'', ''make'', and ''make install'' commands

+

** Particularly, students should have experience using the ''configure'', ''make'', and ''make install'' commands

−

* If students have not compiled in the past, it is common to not have all of the required libraries and modules already installed for the compilation process to succeed. This is a major part of creating RPM's. This setup takes time to troubleshoot and setup, and it could be different on each system if students are not using identical operating systems.

+

** If students have not compiled in the past, it is common to not have all of the required libraries and modules already installed for the compilation process to succeed. This is a major part of creating RPM's. This setup takes time to troubleshoot and setup, and it could be different on each system if students are not using identical operating systems.

−

+

*If you wanted to do this activity in Ubuntu, Debian, etc:

−

If you wanted to do this activity in Ubuntu, Debian, etc:

+

** Students could optionally do this activity on Ubuntu or other Linux OS's which use a different Package Management toolset.

−

* Students could optionally do this activity on Ubuntu or other Linux OS's which use a different Package Management toolset.

+

** Ubuntu is debian-based and uses the ``dpkg`` command. For more info on equivalent commands, see:

−

* Ubuntu is debian-based and uses the ``dpkg`` command. For more info on equivalent commands, see:

What are some likely difficulties that an instructor may encounter using this activity?

What are some likely difficulties that an instructor may encounter using this activity?

+

+

* Instructors may run into students having build problems. The instructor should implement the commands of this activity on a machine themselves. You may still run into student problems that you did not see, but at least you have the context.

+

* If you allow students to run on their own systems, there may be more of these compatibility problems. Consider a lab / virtual machine environment or telling students that are on their own environments that they will need to support themselves.

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|'''Level of Difficulty''' || Easy-Medium, for students that meet the pre-req's

|'''Level of Difficulty''' || Easy-Medium, for students that meet the pre-req's

|-

|-

−

|'''Estimated Time to Completion''' || 2-3 hours

+

|'''Estimated Time to Completion''' || 3-4 hours

|-

|-

|'''Materials/Environment''' ||

|'''Materials/Environment''' ||

* Access to the shell of a Linux operating system that uses RPM (virtualized or on hardware can work)

* Access to the shell of a Linux operating system that uses RPM (virtualized or on hardware can work)

−

* root access is likely needed - another good vote for virtualized systems (might use openshift or virtualbox)

+

* root access is likely needed - another good vote for virtualized systems (might use virtualbox)

|-

|-

|'''Author''' || Nick Yeates

|'''Author''' || Nick Yeates

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|'''License''' || Creative Commons CC-BY

|'''License''' || Creative Commons CC-BY

|}

|}

+

=== Suggestions for Open Source Community: ===

=== Suggestions for Open Source Community: ===

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[[Category: Coding_and_Style]]

[[Category: Coding_and_Style]]

[[Category: Product_Packaging_and_Distribution]]

[[Category: Product_Packaging_and_Distribution]]

−

[[Category: Use_and_Evaluate]]

+

[[Category: Good_Draft]]

−

+

=== Appendix ===

=== Appendix ===

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−

Other readings:

+

==== Other readings ====

+

While researching this activity, these other resources were found. Instructors and students may find them useful for added reading or background.

# Have each student in the class pair up and try to install the other person's RPM and run the new command

# Have each student in the class pair up and try to install the other person's RPM and run the new command

−

−

−

Ideas on what to create into an RPM:

−

* screen

−

* htop

−

* from http://www.tecmint.com/command-line-tools-to-monitor-linux-performance/

Latest revision as of 17:49, 8 March 2017

Title

Linux RPM package management Part 1 (Packaging the 'htop' command)

Overview

Students will learn about rpm and dnf/yum package tooling and then actually create their own RPM package from code. This can be advertised to students as being able to distribute their own linux-based application to the world.

What is the rationale for this activity?

Students may wonder how they can distribute linux-based code that they develop out to other everyday users. Not many users enjoy compiling code, so the RPM package structure allows easy installation of binary pre-compiled code packages. Basically, a student could have coded a small sample command-line application and now they can send it to others easily. The other side of it is that students, as users of Linux, will be interfacing with RPM packages not of their making and it will be good to have an understanding of the backends of how this works. Students will interface with the dnf and yum commands even if simply using linux for fun. Now, they can have knowledge into how it works and how they can employ it for their careers and personal uses.

Directions:

Keep a working log

Log your shell commands, answers to questions, and commentary in a text file, wiki, or blog. You will be constructing and troubleshooting numerous linux shell command's and their outputs. Your assignment is to document these commands and the process you went through in an organized fashion. You might use bullet points or a new set of commands on each line. Make sure it is easily consumable by a human (your instructor), as well as yourself 10 years from now.

The data that is the output of the commands is not as interesting as key lines or a summary/comment of their output or on what the command has done - ex: failed, succeeded, why, what it did, what it changed, etc. Write these in complete sentences. Commentary is especially important if you run into problems. When this occurs, state the problem and how you intend to solve it. At the end, you should have a text document with all of the commands, right and wrong, that you went through to get this activity completed. It should read as a timeline of what you did and what your thoughts were, to get the assignment complete. After this is complete, you will summarize the most useful commands into a sort of cheat sheet - this can come in useful for years to come.

See some samples and tools for a working log. Whatever method you use, make your written log human readable, make it a story if you wish. When you come back to this years from now, needing to remind yourself how to package some newly minted code, you want a summary/cheat sheet and you want to be able to understand the context and follow your thoughts of why you tried certain things. You don't want to be parsing through lines and lines of shell input and output.

Working log examples

Working log Tools to help you

history command - Use this command to see what commands you have typed in the past.

script command - You may alternately want to use the script command, which records all commands and their output to a file. The downside is that you have to remember to run this command before you wanted that output.

Multiple terminal windows/tabs - It is advised that you utilize multiple terminal (shell) windows at the same time. When you get sidetracked on installing a dependency, use a separate window for that. This keeps your shell history organized and parsable afterwards.

Up your terminals buffer limit - You might also consider upping your terminal windows buffer for the number of lines it holds, to somewhere in the tens of thousands - just in case you decide you want to come back to something you learned a while back, or in case a command spits out thousands of lines of results - which can happen. Some terminal applications can record commands and output to text files.

The activity will follow these general steps

Use dnf/yum and rpm files.

Learn about creating rpm's and the rpmbuild command.

Package the htop project into an RPM.

Step 1: dnf / yum and .rpm's

First, lets do some learning before we jump into shell commands. Answer the following in your log:

What is the difference between dnf and yum? Why was the change made?

What are .rpm files? Where might you find them and how are they used?

Use the dnf command to view what packages have been recently installed on your machine.

Hint: There is a specific command for this. man dnf is your friend

Attempting to list all packages will often be quite a long listing.

Use the dnf command to install a .rpm package not currently installed on your machine.

Pick something simple, as you will need to operate it in the next steps.

Hint: If you dont find your own (more credit given for this), you can install screen

Use dnf to show that the new package is now installed.

Run or operate this newly installed utility. Where did dnf place the executable file?

This will take some time to read, but don't worry about details, as we will step through it again below.

If you were to try to follow along in the shell, there may be some difficulties with wget.

Instead, save it for Part 3 below; You will use this readings structure to turn the htop code into an RPM.

Questions:

What is a source RPM vs binary RPM?

What does the rpmbuild command do?

Quickly summarize the directory structure when making your own RPM - you will stick this into your cheat sheet later, so make it short.

Step 3: Create your own 'htop' RPM

In this section, we will take code from the htop project and turn it into an RPM package.

Htop is a tool that shows you how busy your CPUs and memory are, as well as detailed information about the various processes being run on your operating system. It is semi visual, in that it runs in the terminal, but uses colors and blocks to make "graphics" (called ncurses). It is a successor to the famed top command that comes in all linux flavors. System administrators use both of these to diagnose and troubleshoot problems.

Htop was selected in this activity because it does not come standard in most operating systems, meaning it is not already installed. It is also a relatively small/simple build and the functionality of htop is rather useful.

Particularly, students should have experience using the configure, make, and make install commands

If students have not compiled in the past, it is common to not have all of the required libraries and modules already installed for the compilation process to succeed. This is a major part of creating RPM's. This setup takes time to troubleshoot and setup, and it could be different on each system if students are not using identical operating systems.

If you wanted to do this activity in Ubuntu, Debian, etc:

Students could optionally do this activity on Ubuntu or other Linux OS's which use a different Package Management toolset.

Ubuntu is debian-based and uses the ``dpkg`` command. For more info on equivalent commands, see:

What are some likely difficulties that an instructor may encounter using this activity?

Instructors may run into students having build problems. The instructor should implement the commands of this activity on a machine themselves. You may still run into student problems that you did not see, but at least you have the context.

If you allow students to run on their own systems, there may be more of these compatibility problems. Consider a lab / virtual machine environment or telling students that are on their own environments that they will need to support themselves.